senate's fiscal cliff plan. we technically went over the so called cliff at midnight. they approved the plan that would avert year end spending increases. they spent most of the day behind closed doors deciding on whether or not to vote on the wilas is. they try and amend it to do something about the spending. word came they would vote. that vote wrapped up minutes ago and the measure passed. let's bring in mark platkin now. and mark do we know what this bill contains? >> yes, we know that, brian, it doesn't have amendments because it's what the senate passed with a vote only eight senators voted against it. 89 senators voted for it, and this bill says that if you make $400,000 or a family 450,000,

just kidding, you would be taxed, the rate of tax would go up from 36 point something to 39 percent. you know the president said he wouldn't go up over 250 and he did. now up to 450. these tax republicans are very pleased. the bush tax cuts for everybody else would be permanent. people who are on unemployment, that's 2 million long term would continue to get unemployment checks. they had something to do with the estate tax, 40% after the first 5 million being exact, and they fiddled around with the alternative minimum tax so more people wouldn't have to pay that. >> this will get spun a million ways. taxes are going up for a significant portion of the country. >> that was the payroll tax holiday which was supposed to be

an economic stimulus program. if you make $50,000 a year, your taxes will go up about $800. if you make $100,000, it might go up to $2,000 more. that was a temporary thing, and that was allowed to expire. nobody wants to talk about that. but that's a reality. >> and so where does this leave speaker boehner? i know speaker boehner voted yes. is there a significance to that? >> originally, the speaker had said he would not bring anything to the floor that didn't have a majority of republicans. almost two to one, the republicans voted against this proposal. so that's a break with his policy. usually speakers don't vote on legislation. but to make his point, boehner voted yes. i don't know how cantor voted, but i kind of think he probably voted no to make a distinction between himself and boehner.

but the majority of the republicans voted against this bill. but the real crucial thing was that boehner was successful in getting -- was that they agreed not to have amendments on the bill, that it was a clean bill, and if that hadn't been done, then we'd be back to square one and over the cliff again. >> the edge on dc now. another violent crime on board a metro bus. this a woman stabbed on mlk boulevard and southeast. about 2:15 this morning, a woman stabbed in the chest and another hit in the head before the attacker ran off. the bus driver pulled over and called police. there were 88 murders in dc in 2012, 20 fewer than 2011. police chief kathy lanier wanted to keep murders under 100. they used high tech monitoring of high crime areas to direct

resources. a fallen officer remembered tonight after he died in the line of duty. fox 5's lauren demarco has the story. >> reporter: officer chris young is being rpd as an outstanding member of the community and police force in prince william county. a number of people took the mike, including acting police chief lieutenant colonel barry barnard. those who knew him best say he died doing what he loved, that he was passionate about being a motorcycle officer. he was on his motorcycle yesterday afternoon responding to a call when he was struck and killed. police say his emergency equipment was activated, lights and siren were on. but a minivan attempting to make a left-hand turn into the shopping center here at piper lane and noxville road collided with him. two off duty members of the fairfax county fire and rescue crew and two citizens were at the scene. they quickly rushed over and

attempted to pull him from the wreckage. sadly, officer young was pronounced dead at the hospital. his brother dale is also an officer for the county and he says chris young inspired him to join the force. >> i have the question of why him, why so soon. hopefully, i can figure out why. hopefully some good can come of this. he's looking down on us right now giving that big smile that he gives everybody. that smile can warm up any room. >> reporter: officer young was a former marine and a seven-year veteran of the police department. his wife is also a former officer here in prince william county. she and their three children were too distressed to attend tonight's vigil. we also learned today that a 69-year-old woman was the driver of the minivan that struck officer young. she was not injured, nor was another passenger in the car, a female. no word on any charges tonight. that's the latest here in virginia. back to you in the studio. the edge on maryland where a house of worship in prince georges county went up in flames

this morning. luckily no one was hurt but the church in oxon hill has severe damage. fox 5's bob barnard picks up the story. >> we're very sad. this is a church, we were here last night and had such a grand celebration, you know, we welcomed in a new year, and here we are again and our church is destroyed. >> reporter: they call it the church on top of the hill. the first wesleyan church. >> started the new year, looking forward to a lot of things for the new year. but it's not what we planned. >> reporter: pastor robert beckels and members of this community realize repairing the damage will be costly. >> two offices. >> reporter: fire investigators searching for the cause know the power went out late last night at the church and in the

surrounding neighborhood. >> we had no electricity. then all the lights went off. and we left with the lights being off. >> we used the lights from our cell phone to make our way head. >> we left here and everything was fine. >> i got a call saying the church was on fire. >> reporter: this is a photo taken by the first responding firefighters around 7:30 this morning. this one is not considered suspicious after an investigation. >> anytime you have more than any one point of origin, and our firefighters did locate two points of origin, and that's always a red flag for investigators. however, knowing that the power was out, that everybody had left the church prior to the power coming back on, it's also a very real possibility that when the power was reenergized, something could have happened. >> reporter: he said like a power surge that perhaps ignited

something combustible. >> i agree with them that god has a reason for allowing these things to happen. >> we're a real strong community and strong church so we're going to be okay. >> reporter: in oxon hill, maryland, bob barnard, fox 5 news. thousands of new state and federal laws went into effect today. what you need to know right after the break. ♪ [ female announcer ] the one for all. mcdonald's dollar menu. home of the mouthwatering grilled onion cheddar burger, topped with melty white cheddar and caramelized onions. plus all your tasty favorites for just a dollar each. ♪ every day, as always,

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>> on this new year's day, same sex weddings became legal in the state of maryland. several couples got married today. some right after midnight, others throughout the day. baltimore residents clayton zook and clay mckenz snee we already had recognition from family and friends and colleagues. this takes it to the next level to now we have that recognition from the state on a legal standpoint, where we can do things for tax purposes and estate planning and all these legal items that we don't have to worry about and take care of one at a time. you know, it's done now. it's all done. it's taken care of with this one act right here. >> maryland voters approved same-sex marriage last november. a slew of new laws are taking effect on both the state and

federal level. shannon breem has a closer look. >> reporter: as the new year begins, hundreds of state and federal laws are coming in. ranging from amusing to highly controversial. as of today, a regulation from the department of health and human services issued in conjunction with the new health care law requires employers to provide health insurance to make sure it includes free access to birth control, including controversial methods some argue can actually cause an abortion. though there is an exemption for religious employers, there are more than 40 lawsuits now pending brought by those who say they meet the criteria but that the obama administration is refusing to recognize their status, including hobby lobby, which lost its supreme court bid for an emergency injunction last week. at the state level, legislators passed more than 29,000 new measures in 2012, including these. in concord, massachusetts, there's now a ban on selling bottled water. california has outlawed the use of dogs to hunt bob cats and

bears. there are a number of employment related measures as well. in oregon, it's now illegal for employers to advertise a job opening if they won't consider applicants who are currently unemployed. and in both illinois and california, it's now illegal for employers to ask for or require you to hand over the passwords to your social media accounts like facebook and twitter. that goes for both applicants and current employees. other states have already enacted similar laws. and you know that old signal flashing your headlights to let an oncoming driver know there's a speed trap ahead? in florida, as of today, you can no longer get a ticket for doing that. in washington, shannon breem, fox news. recycle those christmas trees. laura evans has your fox 5 top 5. >> up first tonight, brian, doctors are saying recess is crucial for kids. number 5, pediatricians say recess should be part of every kid's day and never taken away as a form of punishment. children like adults need ample tyke to decompress during the day.

plus, there are physical benefits especially when you consider more than a third of us children are overweight. number 4, a record number of americans bought and activated tablets and smart phones. between december 1 and the 20th, roughly 4 million devices were activated per day. number 3, we have black friday and cyber monday, and now there is gift card weekend. it runs through january 4th through the 6th. shoppers can get more savings and special offers at retailers when they redeem their gift cards. number 2, christmas tree recycling is getting under way in most areas in dc. curb side pickup runs through the 12th. montgomery and prince georges county will pick up on normal yard waste days. arlington county's curb side collection starts on the 7th. just be sure to remove the stand, of course, and all the decorations. number 1 tonight, a reminder as you head back to work tonight. it's going to cost more to drive

the dulce toll road. you'll now pay $1.75 and tolls on the on and offramps will be a dollar. the rate hike will help pay for the dulles metro project. that's tonight's fox 5 top 5. we're waiting on the president to speak about the fiscal cliff bill package. if he does, we'll bring it to you. in the meantime, look at this chilly forecast. >> it's not getting cold yet. it's been a nice evening. temperatures have been in the 40s, and today even with the clouds, temperatures at all major airports were in the 40s. 45 for national. so all things considered, not too bad. some colder air is sliding in tonight. we wanted to show you we have a few showers to the south but very light here. this looks like this is all

south of fredricksburg. it's not coming up to the district. overnight tonight we'll be breaking up the clouds a little bit. once we break up the clouds, the temperatures that are now 41 in town and it will fall down through the 30s, colder in the suburbs as well. we're thinking out there temperatures will get down at least into the mid-to upper 20s overnight tonight. that's if we get the clearing by sun rise. if the clouds hold up a little bit longer, maybe one or two hours past sun rise, these temperatures, we won't get down to 31 here in the city. we'll probably be more like 35 or 36. so it all depends on the clouds. but everything continues to indicate we'll break these clouds up overnight tonight. big plume of rain to the south though. this is overdoing it a little bit as it's trying to throw some of this up in our direction here. so by looking at radar, we know that's not really there. but some cold er air is sliding in. as that happens overnight tonight, that will break up some of the clouds. deep moisture coming up from the

tropics to the deep south. again, that will stay to the south of us and it will all get pushed off to the south of us over the next 24 hours or so. looking at the jet stream, no big storms. we'll be on the cold ir side of the country but it looks like the true arctic air will stay to the north of us over the next several days, but some of the cold air will definitely be touching us. so we're still talking about high temperatures only in the mid-to upper 30s the next couple of days, and then we progress into the 40s towards -- actually, the lower 40s towards the end of the week and into the weekend. overnight tonight, if the clouds break up, okay, we're 31 degrees here in town, gaithersburg 29, frederick 28. a little bit warmer, probably not down to freezing for fredricksburg and i think that fredricksburg you guys will wake up mostly cloudy. it will take longer for the clouds to push down to the south. tomorrow, we're in the 30s, pretty chilly too. gaithersburg, frederick, look at that. and that's with sunshine too. so the effects of the colder air

definitely slipping in during the overnight hours. so we'll have this sunny but chilly condition tomorrow, and it will stay with us again for the next couple of days. a cold start, 33, a few clouds at lunch time, temperatures in the middle 30s and chilly by late in the day. high temperatures again for us here in the city only about 38 degrees. suburbs will be a little bit colder than that. still chilly on thursday. some clouds on friday, temperature of 40 degrees. saturday, we're into the lower to mid-40s. we cool off a little bit more on sunday. and next week, monday and tuesday, that is mid-to upper 40s, and again, no big storm systems coming our way. notice there's no rain or no snow on that seven-day forecast. so that's a look at your forecast. i hope you've enjoyed your new year and happy new year to you and now we'll get over to sports with scott smith. >> this is the sports desk with scott smith. arm strength leadership skills 40 time, no not even a

wonder luck test can tell you whether a rookie quarterback is capable of leading his team to the postseason. of the four teams playing this sunday in round 1 of the nfl playoffs, three have first year signal collars. the colts have andrew luck, the sea hawks have wilson. both broke ben roethlisberger's rookie record passer rating. it used to be the qbs spent time carrying the clip board but the class of 2012 has broken the mold. >> you take a look at 40 years in the national football league and you look at all first-round draft choices, there's only seven guys with winning records and all of a sudden this year there's three guys with winning records. i can't really explain that. but all three quarterbacks playing at a very high level. ipg it's great for the game. i think it speaks highly about colleges and what they're doing with the passing attacks now to

get them more accustomed to the nfl. but it's also a credit to these quarterbacks and how they play. >> this sunday on fox, a special pregame show starting at 3:30. 4:00, we'll kick off the fox network coverage and at 4:30 it's kick off between the sea hawks and the redskins. 2013, a new year and a fresh start, but the same old wizards. dc may have swept dallas on the football field but it's the opposite on the hard wood. wizards hosting the mavs tonight. rookie beil hit three of his first four three-pointers. wizards built a 14-point lead but trimmed to four at the break. early second half, shawn marion with the steal and the jam. he had 11 points. mavs by three just over a minute to go. mavs lead by seven. vince carter with an exclamation as the wizards fall 103-94. that's it for sports. i'm told that the president is

addressing the fiscal cliff. let's go to the president now. >> middle class americans, tonight we've done that. thanks to the votes of democrats and republicans in congress, i will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2% of americans while preventing a middle class tax hike that could have sent the economy back into recession and obviously had a severe impact on families all across america. i want to thank all the leaders of the house and senate. in particular, i want to thank the work that was done by my extraordinary vice president joe biden as well as leader harry reed, speaker boehner, nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnelll. everybody worked very hard on it and once again, i want to thank you for this great work. under this law, more than 97% of americans and small businesses

will not see their taxes go up. millions of families will continue to receive tax credits to help raise their kids and send them to college. companies will continue to receive tax credits for the research they do, the investments they make, and the clean energy jobs they create, and 2 million americans were out of work but out there looking, pounding the pavement every day, are going to continue to receive unemployment benefits as long as they're actively looking for a job. but i think we all recognize this law is just one step in the broader effort to strengthen our economy and broaden opportunity for everybody. the fact is, the deficit is still too high. and we're still investing too little in the things that we need for the economy to grow as fast as it should. and that's why speaker boehner and i originally tried to negotiate a larger agreement that would put this country on a path to paying down its debt while also putting americans back to work rebuilding our

roads and bridges and providing investments in areas like education and job training. unfortunately, there just wasn't enough support or time for that larger agreement in lame duck session of congress. and that failure comes with a cross. business is more uncertain and consumers less confident. but we are continuing to chip away at this problem step by step. last year i signed into law $1.7 trillion in deficit reduction. tonight's agreement further reduces the deficit by raising $620 billion in revenue from the wealthiest households in america, and there will be more deficit reduction as congress decides what to do about the automatic spending cuts that we have now delayed for two months. i want to make this point, as i've demonstrated throughout the past several weeks, i am very open to compromise. i agree with democrats and

republicans that the aging population and the rising cost of health care makes medicare the biggest contributor to our deficit. i believe we've got to find ways to reform that program without hurting seniors who count on it to survive. and i believe that there's further unnecessary spending in government that we could eliminate. but we can't simply cut our way to prosperity. cutting spending has to go hand in hand with further reforms to our tax code so that the wealthiest corporations and individuals can't take advantage of loop holes and deductions that aren't available to most americans, and we can't keep cutting things like basic research and new technology and still expect to succeed in the 21st century economy. so we're going to have to continue to move forward in deficit reduction, but we'll have to do it in a balanced way, making sure that we are growing,

even as we get a handle on our spending. now, one last point i want to make. while i'll negotiate over many things, i will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they have already racked up through the laws that they've passed. let me repeat. we can't not pay bills that we've already incurred. if congress refuses to give the united states government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic, far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff. people will remember back in 2011 the last time this course of action was threatened, our entire recovery was put at risk. consumer confidence plunged, business investment plunged, growth dropped. we can't go down that path

again. and today's agreement enshrines i think a principle into law that will remain in place as long as i am president. the deficit needs to be reduced in a way that's balanced. everyone pays their fair share. everyone does their part. that's how our economy works best. that's how we grow. the sum total of all the budget agreements we have reached so far proves that there is a path forward, that it is possible, if we focus not on our politics but let's -- but on what's right for the country, and the one thing that i think hopefully in the new year we'll focus on is seeing if we can put a package like this together with a little bit less drama, a little less brinksmanship, not scare the heck out of folks quite as much. we can come together as democrats and republicans, to cut spending and raise revenue in a way that reduces our deficit, protects our middle class, provide ladders into the

middle class for everybody willing to work hard. we can find a way to afford the investments we need to grow and compete. we can settle this debate or at the very least not allow it to be so all consuming all the time that it stops us from meeting a host of other challenges that we face, including jobs, boosting incomes, fixing our infrastructure, fixing our immigration system, protecting our planet from the harmful effects of climate change, boosting domestic energy production, protecting our kids from the horrors of gun violence. it's not just possible to do these things. it's an obligation to ourselves and the future generations, and i look forward to working with every single member of congress to meet this obligation in the new year. and i hope that everybody now gets at least a day off, i guess, or a few days off so that people can refresh themselves because we're going to have a lot of work to do in 2013. thanks, everybody. happy new year.

>> president obama speaking about the passage of the fiscal cliff bill, raising taxes on what he says are the top 2% earners in the united states, and now back to his vacation in hawaii getting a couple of days break. we'll take a break and be right back. ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts.

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